Rotary engine.



PATENTED OCT. 10, 1905.

P. F. GUTHRIE.

RTRY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED IAN4 I2. w05.

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man n amm co, movmumocavxms, Mannion a a No. 801,662. PATENTED 00T. 10,1905.

P. F. GUTHRIB. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.12. 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

yNo. 801,662. PATENTED OCT. l0, 1905.

P. E'. GUTHRIE. ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.12.1905.

4' SHEETS-SHEET 3.

10.801.662. l PATENTED 00T.1o, 1905. P. P. GUTHRIE.

ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.12. 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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?? By Mm@ f TTQHVEYS PATRICK F. GUTHRIE, OF NUTLEY, NET JERSEY.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Speccaton of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1905.

Application filed January 12.1905. Serial No. 240,678.

To n.7/ 7171/0711j it Hefty concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK F. GUTHRIE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Nutley, in the county of Essex and State of NewJersey, have invented a new and Improved Rotary Engine, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved rotaryengine which is simple and durable in construction, very effective inoperation, and arranged to permit convenient reversing' and to utilizethe motive agent to the fullest advantage.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations ofthe same, as will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointedout in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, 'forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding' parts in all theviews.

Figure I is a side elevation of the improvement. Fig. 2 is an end viewof the same. Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section of the same on the line3 3 of Fig'. l. Fig. A is an enlarged sectional plan view oftheimprovement on the line 4 L of Fig. 3, one of the exhausts beine'shown removed. Fig. is a sectional side elevation of the same on theline 5 of Fig. A. Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional side elevation of oneof the exhausts, the section being on the line 6 6 of Fig. 3. Fig. 7 anenlarged sectional plan view of the same on the line T 'T of Fig. 3.Fig. 8 is a perspective view of one of the abutments and theprotection-valves for the same, and Fig. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectionof one of the abutment-stems and its lifting-arm.

In the cylinder A are mounted to turn a plurality of pistons B, securedto the main shaft C, extending through suitable stuiiing-boxes in thecylinder-heads, the outer ends of the said main shaft C being journaledin suitable bearings carried by standards on the base or bed plate ofthe rotary engine. The pistons B are concentrically arranged in thecylinders A and snugly fit into the same, and each of the pistons isprovided with an annular' groove B at its peripheral surface, the groovebeing approximately half-round, as indicated in Fig'. 5, and across thegroove extends a pistonhead B2, forming an integral part of the pistonand against which the motive agent acts in order to turn the piston Band the main shaft C in either a forward or backward direction, ashereinafter more fully explained. The piston-heads B2 are set atdifferent angles one relative to the other, (see Fig. 3,) so that two ofthe pistons receive the motive agent under full boiler-pressure at onetime, while another is exhausted. It is, however, expressly understoodthat I do not limit myself to the number of pistons employed in a singlecylinder, as the pistons may be increased in number or two pistons oronly a sing'le piston used, if desired.

As the admission and exhaust of the motive agent to the cylinder and thegrooves B of the several pistons is the same. in each case, it issufficient to describe but one in detail. Each of the grooves B' isadapted t0 be engaged by an abutment D, having its stem D extendingupward through a steam-chest E, and on the upper outer end of the steinD is journaled a friction-roller D2, engaged at its under side by an armF,secured to a shaft F', journaled in suitable bearings attached to thetop of the steam-chest E. Each of the shafts F is provided with an armF2, resting on top of a friction-roller F, journaled on the upper end ofa rod Fl, mounted to slide vertically in suitable bearings carried bythe steam-chest E, and the lower end of the rod Fl is provided with afriction-roller F5 in peripheral contact with a cam F secured on themain shaft C. Vhen the engine is in operation and the main shaft C isrotated, then the several cams F successively actuate the rods Ii, so asto slide the same upward, thereby imparting swinging motions to the armsF" to rock the shafts F, which by their arms F successively move thestems D and the abutments D upward at the time the correspondingpiston-head Bg of a piston is approachingthe abutment, so that thelatter is out of the way for the piston-head B2 to pass. As soon as thishas been done the correspondingabutment immediately slides back into itsactive position in the groove B, and for this purpose the upper end ofthe stem D of each abutment is pressed on in a downward direction by aspring' D3,held in a suitablecasing Dl, attached to the top of thesteam-chest E.

It is understood that the cams F are so arranged on the main shaft Cthat they cause a raising of the abutments D in unison with the approachof the corresponding pieton- IOO heads B2 to allow the latter to pass atthe proper time.

'Ihe motive agent is admitted to either one side or the other of eachabutment D, according to the direction in which the engine is to run,and for this purpose each of the abutments is provided on opposite sideswith inlet-ports L and approximately U shape in form, as plainlyindicated in Fig. 3. The motive agent from the steam-chest E iscontrolled previous to its passage to the ports a and byprotection-valvesG and G, arranged on opposite sides of thecorresponding abut- 3^ment and mounted to slide in suitable chambers Hand H, formed on the cylinder A, as plainly indicated in Fig. 3. Theprotectionvalves G and G have their valve-stems G2 and G2 connected witheach other by a cross-bar G2, secured to the corresponding abutment-stemD, so that the valves G and G slide up and down in unison with thecorresponding abutment D. The protection-valves G and G are providedwith transversely-extending ports c and CZ, adapted to register when thevalves are in a lowermost position with ports e and f, with whichregister the upper ends of the-ports a and 7) at the time the abutment Dis in a lowermost position. The ports c and CZ also register when thevalves .G and G are in a lowermost position with ports g and openinginto chambers H2 and H2, formed in the cylinder A adjacent to thechambers H and H for the valves G and G. The chambers H2 and H3 areconnected by portsz' and y' with the interior of the steam-chest E,connected with the boiler or other suitable source of motiveagentsupply, the said ports and j' being formed in the bottom plate E of thesaid steam-chest. The ports r1 and j are controlled by amanually-operated slide-valve I, mounted to slide transversely on theupper surface of the bottom plate E', and the said valve is so arrangedthat when the engine is in operation and the ports t' are open then theports y' are closed, so that the motive agent can pass from the steam-chest E by way of the ports z', chambers H2, and ports g, o', e, and ainto the grooves B of the several pistons to act on the piston-heads B2to drive the pistons B in the direction of the arrow When the slidevalveI is shifted manually to close the ports z' and open the ports j, thenthe live steam or other motive agent can pass from the steamchest E byway of the ports j into the chambers H3 and from the latter by way ofthe ports 72 d, f, and b into lthe grooves B at the other side of theabutment D to act on the piston-heads B2 with a view to reverse theengine-that is, to rotate the piston B in the inverse direction of thearrow Then it is desired to stop the engine, it is only necessary forthe operator to shift the slide-valve I into an intermediateposition-that is, to close both sets of ports z' and j to cut off themotive agent from the cylinder.

In order to shift the slide-valve I into any one of the positionsmentioned, the following device is provided: The front and rear sides ofthe slide-valve I are connected with rods I, extending through suitablestufEng-boxes to the front and rear walls of the steam-chest E, and theouter ends of the said rods I are connected by a transverse bar I2 witheach other, the said bar being mounted to slide on the top of thesteam-chest E, and on the middle portion of the bar is formed a rack I3,engaged by a segmental gear-wheel I2, attached to a shaft J, journaledin suitable bearings formed on a bracket secured to the top of thesteamchest E. On the shaft J (see Figs. l and 2) is secured a hand-leverJ Linder the control of the operator, and this hand-lever J is providedwith a pin J2, adapted to engage one of a series of apertures in asegment J3 to hold the lever J in either of three positions. When thelever J is in the position shown in Figs. l and 2, then the slide-valveI is in the position shown in Fig. S--that is, the ports z' are open andthe ports j are closed. When the operator swings the lever J into anuppermost position, then the valve I is shifted transversely, so thatthe ports z' are closed and the ports j are open, and when the lever Jis moved into an intermediate position then the slide-valve I closesboth sets of ports c' and j.

The exhaust of the motive agent from the cylinder and the grooves B iscontrolled by exhaust-valves K and K, arranged on opposite sides of thecylinder A, the exhaust-valves having casings K2 and K3, connected byports 7e and z with the interior of the cylinder at the grooves B. Inthe valve-casings K2 and K3 are mounted to slide vertically slide-valvesK2 and K5 to open and close the ports It and c, respectively--that is,when one of the ports is closed the other is open-the slide-valves beingcontrolled from the shaft J and lever J to move the slide-valve K5 intoan open position at the time the vslide-valve I uncovers the ports a'and closes the ports j. When the slide-valve I is reversed, aspreviously mentioned, and the ports a' are closed and the ports j areopen, then the valves K4 are moved into a closed position and the valvesK5 into an open position to allow the exhaust to take place by way ofthe exhaust-valve K. The slide-valves K and K5 have their valve-stems K6and K7 pivotally connected with rods L and L', mounted to slidevertically in suitable bearings carried by the steam-chest E, and theupper ends of the said rods L and L are provided with racks L2 and L3 inmesh with opposite sides of segmental gear-wheels L2,

lsecured on the shaft J. When the latter is rocked by the operatormanipulating the lever J as previously described, then a simultaneoussliding motion in opposite directions is given to the rods L and L toshift the slidevalves K4 and K5 simultaneously and in unison IOO withthe movement given to the slide-valve I, as previously explained. Thusfrom the foregoing it will be seen that when the slide-valve I is in theposition shown in Fig. 3 the exhausttakes place by way of theexhaust-valve K, and when the valve I is shifted to close the ports zand open the ports j then the exhaust takes place by way of theexhaust-valve K. The operation is as follows: `When the valves I, K, andK are in the position shown in Fig. 3, then the steam passes from thesteam-chest E into the cylinder and the several grooves B at theleft-hand side of the abutments D to rotate the pistons B in thedirection of the arrow a', it being understood that each abutment D israised and with it its protectionvalves G and G whenever thecorresponding piston-head approaches the abutment in question. It isevident that when the protectionvalves G and G of an abutment D arelifted they eut 0E the steam from the abutment, as the ports c and Zmove out of register with the ports g it and e f, and consequently steamis not liable to leak from the chambers and Irl3 through the ports a andZ1 of the abutment and into the cylinder. Thus the valves Gr and Grafford protection against leakage of steam, and hence it is notnecessary to use expensive and cumbersome packing devices at theabutments. The motive agent entering a groove B/ of a piston B acts onthe piston-head B2 thereof until the piston-head B2 is closing thecorresponding exhaust-port Z5, and when the piston-head B2 reaches thisposition the abutment D and its`protection-valves G and G begin to rest,so as to cut off the motive agent from the corresponding groove B' andto allow the motive agent behind the piston-head B2 to exhaust throughthe port and casing K2. By the time the piston-head B2 reaches a topposition the corresponding abutment D has moved into its uppermostposition to allow the piston-head to pass, and then the abutment Dimmediately returns to its lowermost position to again bring the valvesG and G' into proper register with their ports and also to bring theports a and of the abutments D in register with the ports a and f.I/Vhen the engine is reversed, as previously stated, the motive agentpasses into the cylinder by way of the port to cause the piston torotate in the reverse direction of the arrow 5c and to exhaust by way ofthe exhaust-valve K.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, a pistonfitted therein and having an annular groove in its periphery and apiston-head extending across the groove, an abutment adapted to slide inand out of the said groove, said abutment having a stern and providedwith an inlet-port, mechanism connected with the stem ofthe abutment forimparting a sliding motion to the said abutment in unison with therotation of the piston, to allow the piston-head to pass the abutment,and a steam-chest connected with the said abutment-ports at the time theabutment is in an active position.

2. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, a piston fitted therein andhaving' an annular' groove in its periphery and a piston-head extendingacross the groove, an abutment adapted to slide in and out of the saidgroove and provided with an inlet-port, means for imparting a slidingmotion to the said abutment in unison with the rotation of the piston,to allow the piston-head to pass the abutment, a steam-chest connectedwith the said abutmentports at the time the abutment is in an activeposition, and a protection-valve moving with the abutment and arrangedin the connection between the abutment and the steam-chest.

3. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, a plurality of concentricpistons litted therein and having annular grooves in their peripheriesand piston-heads extending across the grooves, the several piston-headsbeing` set at angles one to the other, slidable abutments for the saidgrooves, each having inlet-ports on opposite faces, means for impartingmovement to the said abutments in unison with the pistons, to allow thepiston-heads to pass the abutments, a steam-chest having sets of portsfor connection with the inlet-ports in the abutments, and amanually-controlled slide-valve in the said steam-chest, to control thesets of steam-chest ports.

4. A rotary engine comprising` a cylinder, a plurality of pistons iittedtherein and having annular grooves in their peripheries and piston-headsextending' across the grooves, the several piston-heads being set atangles one to the other, slidable abutments for the said grooves, eachhaving` inlet-ports on opposite faces, means for imparting movement tothe said abutments in unison with the pistons, to allow the piston-headsto pass the abutments, a steam-chest having sets of ports for connectionwith the inlet-ports in the abutments, a manually-controlled slidevalvein the said steam-chest, to control the sets of steam-chest ports, andexhaust-valves for controlling the exhaust from the said grooves, thesaid exhaust-valves moving in unison with the said slide-valve.

5. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, a plurality of pistons littedtherein and having annular grooves in their peripheries and piston-headsextending' across the grooves, the several piston-heads being set atangles one to the other,slidable abutments for the said grooves, eachhaving inlet-ports on opposite faces, means for imparting movement tothe said abutments in unison with the pistons, to allow the piston-headsto pass the abutments, a steam-chest having sets of ports for connectionwith the inlet-ports in the abutments, a manuallycontrolled slide -valvein the said steam-chest, to control the sets of steam-chest ports,exhaust-valves on opposite sides of the IOO IIO

IIS

cylinder, and means under the control of the operator-,forsimultaneously shifting the slidevalve and the said exhaust-valves inunison.'

6. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, a plurality of vpistons fittedtherein and having annular grooves in their peripheries and piston-headsextending across the grooves,

the several piston-heads being set at angles -steam-chest ports, andprotection-valves for the abutments, arranged in the port connectionsbetween the abutment-ports and the said steam-chest ports.

7, A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, a plurality of pistons fittedtherein and having annular grooves in their peripheries and piston-headsextending' across the grooves, the several piston-heads being set atangles one to the other, slidable abutments for the said grooves, eachhaving inlet-ports on opposite faces, means for imparting movement tothe said abutments in unison with the pistons, to allow the piston-headsto pass the abutments, asteam-chest having sets of ports Jfor connectionwith the inlet-portsin the abutments, a manually-controlled slide-valvein the said steam-chest, to control the sets of steam-chest ports,protection-valves for the abutments, arranged in the port connectionsbetween the abutment ports and the said steam-chest ports, and meanssupporting the protection-valves directly from the abutmentstems.

8. A rotary engine comprising' a cylinder, a plurality ot' pistonsfitted therein and having annular grooves in their peripheries andpiston-heads extending across the grooves, the several piston-headsbeing set at angles one to the other, slidable abutments for the saidgrooves, each having inlet-ports on opposite faces, means for impartingmovement to the said abutments in unison with the pistons, to allow thepiston-heads to pass the abutments, the said means consisting ofrockshafts having arms engaging the springpressed abutment-stems,slide-rods engaged by other arms on the said rock-shafts and cams on thepiston-shaft, engaging the said slide-rods, a steam-chest having setsot' ports for connection with the inlet-ports in the abutments, and amanually-controlled slide-valve in the said steam-chest, to control thesets of steam-chest ports.

9. A rotary engine comprising a cylinder, a plurality of pistons Iittedtherein and having annular grooves in their peripheries and piston-headsextending across the grooves, the

several piston-heads being set at angles one to the other, slidableabutments for the said grooves, each having inlet-ports on oppositefaces, means for imparting movement to the said abutments in unison withthe pistons, to allow the piston-heads to pass the abutments, asteam-chest having' sets of ports for connection with the inlet-ports inthe abutments, a manually-controlled slide-valve in the saidsteam-chest, to control the sets of steam-chest ports, exhaust-valves onopposite sides of the cylinder, and means under the control of theoperator for simultaneously shifting the slidevalve and the saidexhaust-valves in unison, the said means comprising a rock-shaft@handlever for operating the rock-shaft, segmental gear-wheels on therock-shaft, a rack connected with the said slide-valve and in mesh withone of the said segmental gear-wheels and sliding rods connected withthe stems of the exhaust-valves and having racks in mesh with othersegmental gear-Wheels.

. 10. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder andprovided with a pistonhead, a sliding abutment having a stem andprovided with ports, a slotted casing in which projects the stem of theabutment, a spring in the casing and surrounding the abutmentstem, arock-shaft provided with an arm in engagement with the stem of theabutment within the casing, and means for operating the rock-shaft fromthe piston-shaft.

ll. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder andprovided with a pistonhead, a sliding abutment having a stem andprovided with ports, a slotted casing in which projects the stem of theabutment, a spring in the casing and surrounding the abutmentstem, arock-shaft provided with arms, one of which projects through the casingand into engagement with the stem of the abutment, a sliding rod engagedby the other arm of the rock-shaft, and a cam carried by thepistonshat't and operating said sliding rod.

l2. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder andprovided with a pistonhead, a sliding abutment having a stem andprovided with ports, means for imparting sliding motion to the abutmentin unison with the piston, a protection-valve having a stem, and aconnection between the stem of the protection-valve and the stem of theabutment.

13. In a rotary engine, a cylinder,a piston in the cylinder and having apiston-head, a slidable abutment having inlet-ports, means for impartingmovement to the abutment in unison with the piston, a steam-chest havingports, aslide-valve in the steam-chest, a rack connected at its endswith the slide-valve, a segmental gear-wheel meshing with the rack, andmeans for operating said gear-wheel.

14. In a rotary engine, a cylinder, a piston in the cylinder and havinga piston-head, a sliding abutment, means for moving the abutment inunison with the piston, a steam-chest,

Ioo

a slide-valve in the steam-chest, a rock-shaft, means for' operating theslide-valve for the rook-shaft, sliding exhaust -va1ves, sliding' rodsprovided with racks and connected with the exhaust-valves, and segmentalgear-wheels i carried hy the rock-shaft and engaging lhe racks of thesliding rods. l

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this speoihcation in thepresence of two subscrbing Witnesses.

PATRICK F. GUTHRIE.

IVitnesses:

THEO. G. HOSTER, EVERARD BOLTON MARSHALL.

